Where We Don't Belong
by ChristianGateFan
Summary: Fantasy becomes reality, three college girls get the surprise of a lifetime, and the Kents and the rest of our friends in Smallville recieve several unintentional visitors from the future. WARNING! Crossover with Star Trek: The Next Generation!
1. Prolouge

Okay, this is a Smallville / Star Trek: The Next Generation crossover, of all things. Yes, I know that sounds way out ther, but please read it. I think fans of both will enjoy it. Also, please go easy on me; this is my first Smallville fic. One of my friends, who is a much bigger Smallville fan than I am, is helping me with this, so I give her equal credit for this story. Her pen name is MollyLucyTyler, and her name is Morgan. I'm Kaitlyn. Anyway, I guess you could say that this is kind of a co-author, but whatever.

This story starts out in the firstseason, but then skips to the fourth. I know that sounds weird, but you'll see. I think it will be interesting, so _please_ read! And **_please_** review! I want to know what you think whether it's good or bad!

Prologue

Seven-year-old Morgan looked out the window of her family's SUV at the house their house in Smallville, Kansas, which they were about to leave for good.

Her dad turned around in the driver's seat to look at her. "I'm sorry we had to move on your birthday, sweetheart," he said sympathetically.

"It's okay, daddy," the little girl said, giving her parents a smile. "I'll make new friends in Metropolis. And we can come back and visit, can't we?"

"Of course," her mother said. With that, the vehicle pulled out of the driveway, and headed toward their new home. But not five minutes down the road, everything fell apart.

"Daddy, what's that?" Morgan asked, pointing toward the sky through the window.

"What is what, Morgan?" her dad asked, glancing up out the windshield. Her mom did the same.

"Sam!" she cried suddenly.

"Oh my-!" Morgan's dad said. He swerved off the road just as a huge…something, landed in the middle of the road with a deafening crash, flinging debris everywhere. The SUV stopped when it ran into the ditch, and thankfully no one was hurt and the vehicle wasn't seriously damaged.

"Stay in the car, Angie!" Sam said as he jumped out. He looked up, shading his eyes against the sun, and then realized what the large object had been. It was a meteor. As he stared in horror, hundreds more were falling all over Smallville. He jumped back into the vehicle with his family.

"What's going on!" Angie said frantically, eyes wide.

"I don't know," Sam said.

Morgan, in the back seat, stared up and out the window next to her as the meteors fell and chaos broke out all around them, shivering in fear. But finally, as suddenly as it had started, it was all over.

* * *

Kaitlyn looked out the window of her dad's office in the skyscraper in Metropolis that same day. She didn't have school today so he had brought her here with him, since he had some extra work to be done. The view from hid high window had always fascinated her. She could see for miles, and could even make out Smallville from up here. It was always the same when her dad brought her here. She would look out the windows for a while, then read or play or say hello to her friends. She knew most of her father's co-workers, and even though she was only six she had many friends among them.

But today was not to be the same. Before her eyes, what seemed from a distance to be small rocks or something began to fall from the sky, bombarding Smallville.

"Daddy!" Kaitlyn cried. The man looked up from his desk.

"What in the world!" he gasped.

* * *

Later that day, Faith sat on the couch in her home in the suburbs of Metropolis; playing with her dolls as her mom watched TV. Her father was still at work. Her mom switched to the news channel, and immediately sat up straighter in her chair. She listened to the report from Smallville for a moment, and then gasped.

"Omigosh!" she yelped.

"What is it, mommy?" Faith asked.

"Huh? Oh, um…. Well, honey," she said, trying to decide how to explain it to her young daughter. "A…bunch of…rocks…. fell in Smallville."

"Big rocks?" Faith asked.

"Well, yes, I'm sure they were pretty big…." The woman said nervously, glancing back at the TV screen, where they were now showing footage of the catastrophe. "I hope no one was hurt…" she added quietly.

* * *

Twelve Years Later

Morgan dropped onto the couch in the living room or the apartment she shared with her two best friends, Kaitlyn and Faith. The place was a decent accommodation in the suburbs of Metropolis, and was conveniently near their college. The three girls were renting it together while they went to school. Morgan was a sophomore while her friends were freshmen.

It had been another hectic day, and Morgan sighed as she picked up the remote from the coffee table and clicked the TV on. It was tuned to the evening news, and as soon as the picture appeared and she heard the current story, she frowned and called to her friends.

"Hey guys!" she called. "Come in here, there's something interesting on the news!"

Faith and Kaitlyn hurried in from the kitchen where they had still been eating.

"What is it?" Kaitlyn asked, leaning over the back of the couch.

"Just look," Morgan said, pointing to the screen. "Something else weird happened in Smallville."

"Oh good grief," Faith said. "What _hasn't_ happened there?"

"I'm sure there's plenty that hasn't," Kaitlyn said in mild annoyance. "Now come on, Morgan, change the channel already. Star Trek has probably already started."

"All right, all right," Morgan replied. Then she changed the channel to what they always watched on weekday nights, and the familiar sound of the theme music for Star Trek: The Next Generation wafted into the room. "Oh darn, we missed the first part," she pouted.

"It doesn't matter. We've seen just about every episode," Faith said.

But then, as the commercials came on, a strange, yet somehow familiar sound resonated in the back of the room and all three girls jumped in surprise, whirling around to face the direction it was coming from. A column of sparkling light appeared, and soon a form took shape, solidifying into a person. The mouths of all three girls dropped open when they saw what, or, more precisely, _who,_ was standing in their living room. The sight was surreal, but they couldn't deny what they were seeing.

It was Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the _Enterprise-E._

At least, that's whom he looked like.

"Good evening, ladies," the captain said. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to frighten you."


	2. A Proposition

Chapter 1

The girls gaped for another moment or so, until finally one of them moved. Morgan leaned over and quickly switched off the TV just as the commercials were ending.

"Um…okay, what's going on?" she asked hesitantly.

"This _is_ a joke, isn't it?" Faith gulped.

"I can assure you that this is most definitely not a joke," Picard said.

Kaitlyn gestured vaguely toward the television. "Then you…you're really…b-but you _can't_ be Jean-Luc Picard!" she said in disbelief.

For a brief moment the captain looked surprised that she knew his name, but shortly that passed and he took a step forward. He half expected the frightened girls to take a step back when he did, but they didn't.

"But I am," he said. "Listen, I know this must come as a shock to you, but…everything you see, everything you read, everything you know about this…this 'Star Trek', is real. Or it will be. At least I believe so. I'm sure I don't know as much about it as you do."

"How can you not know as much about it as we do?" Kaitlyn asked skeptically, frowning. "If you are who you say you are, then you're living it."

"Yes," Picard said. "I know that, but this television show of yours is not common knowledge in my century. In the mid twenty-first century when it was realized that things were starting to be as it was said in the show, when it was also realized that it might continue that way, knowledge of the show was cut off from the public. By the turn of the century only select few knew it had even existed. _I _did not even know until recently, just before the _Enterprise_ sent on this mission."

"And what is your mission? What are you doing here?" Morgan asked.

"From your uniform I'd say you're from the Dominion War era," Kaitlyn added helpfully. "Why would Starfleet be interested in the past while in the middle of a war?"

Again the captain looked surprised; this time much more so. After a moment he spoke.

"Actually, that is what I am here to talk to you about," Picard said. "Yes, the Federation is now at war with the Dominion. We are running extremely low on resources and personnel. That's where you come in. We've had to act on a last resort. And that is: finding people who are willing to help the Federation fight this war…though somewhere else."

"Whoa whoa whoa, rewind and freeze for a sec," Faith said. "Are you trying to tell us that you want to take us back to the 24th century?"

"Only if you want to go."

"But how could we help?" Morgan asked curiously. "We know nothing about technology in the 24th century, and we'd never be able to learn fast enough to be of any use. We'd have three and a half centuries of catching up to do!"

"So? We could do it. They wouldn't have to teach us 'everything', " Kaitlyn said. She looked to Picard for help. "Right?"

The captain nodded. "That's right. And also there will be others, hopefully, that will come as well. If we can gather a sufficient number of individuals, the extra personnel would certainly help Starfleet greatly. You would begin training once you arrived, and begin duty shortly after, once you knew enough. And even then, you would continue to learn while at the same time taking shifts." He paused, "It's not a perfect solution, but the Federation is quickly running out of options."

"But aren't you breaking the Prime Directive by being here and talking to us?" Kaitlyn said.

Picard looked uncomfortable. "Yes…but as I said, it could not be helped."

The three college girls looked at each other.

"You needn't decide right now. We'll be here for a week or more. You can let us know in s few days," Picard added.

They were silent for a few more seconds, until finally Kaitlyn spoke again.

"No…" she began, speaking slowly. "I don't think I need a few days. I know what I want to do." She took a step forward and took a deep breath. "I'll go."

Tiffany stepped up as well, "Me too."

Only Morgan hung back, unsure, still thinking. If they went, they might never come back. They could be killed. But then again, they would get a chance to do something no one else in their time had done before. Besides, she thought with a smile, she'd always wanted to know what it was like in the world of Star Trek. Now she could find out, and it would be _real_. Not to mention that the computer on board the _Enterprise _had who-knew-how-much info, and on the past from its point of view, too. If she searched it hard enough, she might even discover what was going on in Smallville. It might be able to tell her why all those weird things happened there. And, of course, going was the right thing to do if the Federation needed help.

Grinning, Morgan finally joined her friends.

"Count me in," she said with confidence.

Captain Picard smiled and moved closer to them, tapping his combadge. "Well then, we'd better be on our way. We can come back to gather your things in a few hours, once you've been briefed."

"Picard to transporter room; four to beam up." He paused briefly and said, "Energize."

And then transporter beams swept the four away, taking the three college girls to a place they had never before even dared to hope exsisted.


	3. Three years later

Hold on to your hats! The adventure between the worlds is about to begin!

Okay, one thing you need to know. This starts about a week after the events of the Star Trek: The Next generation books _A Time To Be Born _and_ A Time To Die. _I know the _Enterprise_ actually went somewhere else after that, but I don't care. This is my story, so I can do what I want, right? Anyway, please bear with me. This chapter might get a little boring in the middle, I must admit, but please read it. The end of this chapterand the next chapter will be really good, along with the rest of the story we hope. Also, I know that up to this point it has been more Star Trek than Smallville, but all that's about to change...

Anyway, you don't have to have read the two books I mentioned to read this. But if you have, congratulations, all this wil make perfect sense to you. For those of you who haven't, it's okay. You'll get a good explanation within the chapter, and that will be all you need to know.

I hope you enjoy this! Thanks so much for the reviews guys, and_ please_keep them coming! (No reviews, no more story)

Chapter 2

Three Years Later

Captain Picard studied the strange green and red cloud that occupied most of the viewscreen, which the _Enterprise_ had been ordered to explore.

"Lieutenant, what is that cloud composed of?" Picard asked as the ship neared the anomaly, directing his question to Vale at the tactical station. The woman looked back down at her console for a moment, then looked up and frowned.

"Well sir, we know that this cloud is the remains of Krypton, a planet that was destroyed more than three centuries ago, but the material is not one that the ship's computer is familiar with."

"Mmm, curious…" Picard said. "It couldn't hurt the ship, could it?"

"I don't believe so, sir, but I do suggest that we proceed with caution," Vale said.

"All right then. Helm, move in closer, one-fourth impulse. I want to get a better look."

"Aye sir."

* * *

Down on one of the ship's observation decks, Morgan, Faith, and Kaitlyn stood near the windows, observing the peculiar cloud outside. It was late afternoon, they were off duty, and they had all been curious and decided to come here. Lieutenant Commander Data was also there watching it, but unlike the girls, the curious android had a tricorder with him. He had been there when they had arrived, and they had all exchanged hellos, but after that they hadn't spoken much. All were content just to stare out the window, fascinated by the display provided.

The cloud was mostly green, with patches of red here and there, which was odd. As the ship moved closer, shards of what appeared to be either some kind of green and red rock or gem could be spotted floating lazily about in the vacuum of space within it.

Finally one of them spoke up.

"Wow," Kaitlyn said. "It's, um…it's really pretty, but it's just…weird. I don't know how to explain it."

"No, what was weird was when we and hundreds of other young people from our century were brought here, trained, and made temporary Starfleet officers because Starfleet needed more people when they were in the war. This is _nothing _compared to that," Faith said back.

"I'd have to agree with Faith," Morgan smiled.

"Okay, I guess you're right," Kaitlyn laughed.

She thought back to the time that Faith had referred to. It had been a difficult transition, leaving Metropolis and getting used to a whole new century. But the _Enterprise_ senior officers had been friendly and helpful, and even, despite the girls' low rank of ensign, they were their closet friends on board.

Yes, the war was over, and after it had concluded, most of those brought from the twenty-first century had gone back to their old homes, but a few had chosen to stay in the future. They had all been allowed to decide for themselves whether they wanted to make the twenty-fourth century their permanent home or not. Of the people from the past who had been on the _Enterprise_ during the war, Kaitlyn, Faith, and Morgan were the only ones left. Now that things in the Federation had settled down somewhat, Starfleet Command had informed them that if they wanted to remain in Starfleet they would have to go through the academy, but so far they had not followed up on that yet. Not to mention that certain circumstances had prevented them from doing that just yet.

Kailtyn felt both like shivering and smiling when she though of the events that had unfolded in the past few weeks, involving the Rashanar site. Something disastrous had taken place, and Captain Picard had been accused of something he hadn't done. He had been court-martialed by the end of it, and the _Enterprsie_ had had to embark on a top-secret, off the record mission to prove his innocence. They had done that, and neutralized the threat in the Rashanar site, but they would not have even been able to do that if it hadn't been for help that they had received from a long lost friend of the senior officers of the_ Enterprise-_Wesley Crusher.

The young man, now a Traveler, had returned to help. Actually, back in the twenty-first century, among the Star Trek books she had read, there had been one that had chronicled the events of the Rashanar mission. Morgan had read it as well. The two of them had known what was going to happen, as they had occasionally over the time they had been here. They had known that Wesley was going to show up, and they had known exactly who Ensign Brewster was when Wesley had, at first arriving, using his powers as a Traveler, disguised himself. For the most part neither of them had said anything to anyone else, because when they had been brought to this century they had promised that they would never tell anything they knew, because Starfleet had known they would know things like that. Kaitlyn however, had not kept her mouth shut _completely._

It had probably been foolish, but when she had gotten a chance she had let "Ensign Brewster" know that she was aware of who he really was. This, of course, has aroused Wesley's suspicions, and he had demanded that she tell him how she knew. She had, and he'd understood; though she had had to promise several times that she would not reveal his identity to get him to calm down.

Over the rest of Wesley's under-cover stay on the _Enterprise_, and after he had chosen to reveal himself, the two of them had developed something of a friendship. Though Kaitlyn was sure that, at first, the only reason he even talked to her was because he didn't want her to tell anyone who he was. Actually, at the beginning, Kaitlyn had been almost positive that he despised her and thought her a pest. Thankfully though, that had worn off, and he had seemed to come to think of her as a good friend. Eventually Kaitlyn had even found herself discretely telling him things from the book she had read, warning him of things.

But that was not all she had found herself doing. Despite all her efforts to deny her feelings, Kaitlyn had found herself falling in love with him. But she couldn't have him. Not only was she a Christian and he obviously wasn't, but Wesley was in love with another woman. That woman, Colleen Cabot, had lost her life during the Rashanar mission, even though Kaitlyn had warned Wesley that it was going to take place. Poor Wes had taken it extremely hard, and after that Kaitlyn had not felt guilty about her feelings and tucked them away even further.

And then Wesley had left. The mission had been over, the ship and his friends safe, and he had disappeared, without saying goodbye to anyone except to his mother. That had been a week ago.

Now as Kaitlyn thought back to the weeks he had been there, she felt a single tear slip down her cheek. Quickly she wiped it away. She wished she'd never had feelings for him, that he had just been one more person she had encountered in her life, but she had, and still did. She could only hope that one day he would return again.

At that moment the door slid open, pulling Kaitlyn out of her reverie. Lwaxana Troi, (on board for some reason or another, the details of which none of them knew) strolled into the large room, Commander Riker and Counselor Troi trailing behind.

"Mother, why did you want us to come here?" Deanna asked, the slightly exasperated tone she nearly always had with Lwaxana just detectable.

"I wanted to take a good look at this, dear. You really should enjoy it, Little One. It's an absolutely beautiful sight," Mrs.Troi said lightly. With that, the Betazoid woman walked up to the windows, and Will and Deanna glanced at each other. Riker rolled his eyes almost imperceptibly.

"Hey, Deanna," Kaitlyn said in greeting.

"Oh, hello, Kaitlyn," Deanna said, now smiling. "Hello Morgan, Faith."

"Hi," Faith and Morgan said, echoing each other.

"How are you?" Riker asked. Then he noticed the android near them. "And what about you, Data?"

Data looked up from his readings. "I am doing, well, commander. Thank you," he said politely, drawing a few giggles from some.

"We're good," Morgan piped up.

"Great!" Faith said.

"Yeah," Kaitlyn agreed, unable to think of anything else to say.

"I'm glad to hear that," a new voice from the far side of the room said.

All occupants of the observation deck turned in surprise to see Wesley Crusher standing there as if he'd been standing there all along.

"Wesley?" Riker said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I never said goodbye to the rest of you a few days ago," the young Traveler answered.

"It's good to see you," Deanna smiled.

"I am pleased that you are here as well," Data said.

"It's good to see you too, Data, Commander Riker, Deanna," Wesley said, grinning.

Kaitlyn, who had stood stock still, stunned, for several seconds, finally broke into a huge smile.

"Well thank goodness," she said, feigning annoyance. "I-uh-I mean, um, _we_ were beginning to worry about you."

Wesley looked in the direction of the three girls that he knew to be from the twenty-first century. "Sorry," he laughed. "I didn't really mean to leave so quickly, but…whatever. Anyway, how have you been?"

Kaitlyn was about to answer when Lwaxana stepped away from the windows and toward Wesley.

"Oh! Um…hello Mrs. Troi," Wesley said in surprise.

"Hello, Mr. Crusher," she said. She looked at her daughter with an inquiring glance. "That is him, isn't it?"

"Yes, mother."

Lwaxana looked back to Wesley. "Then how did he get in here like that? The Wesley Crusher I remember couldn't pop in and out like that Q friend of Jean-Luc's. But it seems like he did."

"It's a long story. Mrs. Troi…" Wesley began.

"Which you can hear later," Deanna cut in quickly. "Mother, Wesley came here to see his friends, not to explain every detail of his life to you."

"Oh nonsense. He has time. Besides, I have a feeling this is going to be interesting," Lwaxana insisted. "Now, Mr. Crusher, if you would be so kind…"

Wesley sighed internally. Deanna did the same, while giving Wesley an apologetic look. Wesley shrugged back as he began to tell Mrs. Troi about his becoming a Traveler, and the rest of those in the room exchanged amused looks.

* * *

On the bridge, Captain Picard gave the order to enter the cloud itself, and the _Enterprise_ glided forward slowly and gracefully.

* * *

"That's fascinating," Lwaxana said as Wesley concluded his story. "But-" suddenly she stopped, and glanced over at the windows. "What is that?"

Wesley turned, as did everyone else, to see that something strange was beginning to happen with one of the windows. The various conversational groups ceased to talk, and the room fell silent. All turned toward the view of stars.

The window suddenly began to ripple, and then distort. After a moment what seemed to be something of a vortex formed in it. An image took shape. Finally it stopped changing and only sat there, rippling slightly, as if it were water. In the middle of the vortex that now took up one entire window there was now a perfect picture of a small farm.

"What in the world?" Kaitlyn breathed.

"This doesn't look good," Will Riker said, reaching up to tap his comm badge "Riker to-Whoa!"

Before he could even finish the call, all eight people in the room were abruptly sucked into the vortex image that had formed, and disappeared without a trace.

* * *

"The cloud seems to be doing something to the hull," Vale said from her tactical station. A second later she cried in alarm. "Captain, we have a hull breach!"

"Full reverse! And get those emergency containment shields up! What's wrong with them?"

"Unknown sir, they simply didn't activate, and I'm not reading a malfunction," Vale said as the ship backed away immediately from the cloud. Then she frowned. "Sir, the breach is gone. It's as if it never happened."

* * *

On the observation deck, the bizarre anomaly vanished, to be replaced by the clear window that had been there before, but the eight people who had been in the room remained gone.

The eight shouted in surprise as they were pulled through, but just as quickly as it had happened it was over, and they found themselves standing in the middle of a cornfield…


	4. Clark

I would like to thank It's me, get over it; Nightwing 509; Mysterious Jedi; and Anarra for reviewing! Thanks so much, and keep the reviews coming, please!

Also, this chapter is a bit shorter, sorry, but the next one should be a lot longer.

Chapter 3

All eight - Will, Deanna, Lwaxana, Data, Wesley, Morgan, Faith, and Kaitlyn - looked at their surroundings in confusion.

"Where are we?" Deanna asked no one in particular.

"Whatever planet we are presently located on, this is apparently its agricultural region," Data said.

"Yeah, obviously," Faith said, rolling her eyes.

Wesley stopped looking around and spoke to the group, though looking at Riker. "Wait a minute. I think I can get all of us back to the _Enterprise_," he said. Will nodded, and a second later, Wes vanished.

Lwaxana Troi blinked. "Wasn't he supposed to take us with him?" she asked.

"I thought that's what he said," Kaitlyn said in confusion. "Maybe he's just making sure that he can get there."

"But why would he need to do that? I thought he could go just about anywhere with his powers," Riker said.

Kaitlyn shrugged. "So did I. I don't know."

Meanwhile, Wesley focused, pictured the_ Enterprise _and tried to take himself there. The cornfield and his friends around him disappeared, and he expected to find himself back on the observation deck a second later, but instead the cornfield re-appeared, though without the others. And suddenly he felt tired.

"What in the world?" he said aloud. He tried again, but again he still ended up in the cornfield. And this time, he felt exhausted. _This isn't right. What happened? _The young Traveler stood among the corn stalks that were waving slightly in the wind, breathing hard, and struggling to understand what could possibly be wrong. Nothing quite like this had ever happened before. His powers had simply failed to work before, on the mimic ship in the Rashanar site, but they had never worked, and then come up short like this. He had probably only traveled a few meters, he realized, because now he could hear voices floating on the breeze, coming from his left.

Parting the corn, he walked toward the voices and within a couple of minutes he found his friends again, standing there talking and apparently wondering out loud what had happened to him.

"I'm right here," he said, frowning as he stepped into the tiny clearing that had been formed by the several people now standing there. All of them turned to look at him in surprise.

"Wes, what happened? Are you all right?" Kaitlyn asked, noticing his now tired face.

"I'm fine, but I don't know what happened. I only went a few meters. There is definitely something seriously weird going on here. My powers are on the blink for some reason."

"I could have told you something weird was going on when we got sucked through that vortex!" Morgan said, crossing her arms.

"Yes, but now we need to find out what's going on, and how to get back," Riker said, taking command of the situation as the ranking officer in the bunch.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Lwaxana said, raising and eyebrow.

"First we must establish our location," Data said. "And I believe, Commander, that we are on Earth."

"_What?_" Will said. "How is that possible?"

"I am not sure, sir, but I believe that we are on Earth of the past."

"Wait a sec, are you saying that that vortex was a _time warp?_" Faith said in disbelief.

"That is a possibility," the android said.

"Then how are we supposed to-" Kaitlyn stopped, midsentence, when a sudden draft of air rushed past the group. The cornstalks rustled violently for a second or two, then stopped. "What was that?"

"Right now, I would believe anything," Deanna said.

Will started to say something, but then they heard what must have been someone walking toward them, and they waited to see who, or what. A moment later a tall, dark haired teenage boy in a red t-shirt and blue jeans stepped through the corn near them.

"Who are you?" he asked, frowning slightly. "What are you doing out here?"

Nearly all of the group from the _Enterprise _began talking at once, offering half a dozed different false explanations, but Commander Riker quieted them all with a movement of his hand and stepped toward the young man as he made a decision.

'To be honest, we don't know where we are, why we're here, or how we got here," Will said. He glanced around at his comrades. "It's…kind of a long story."

For some reason, the teenager didn't look the least bit surprised. He stepped forward and held out his hand, which Riker took.

"Well maybe I can help you," he said, shaking Will's hand.

He smiled then, and introduced himself. "I'm Clark Kent, and you're in Smallville."


	5. Smallville

Chapter 4

Kaitlyn's eyes squinted when the teenager stated his name, both Wesley's and Morgan's widened, and when all three realized what they were doing they stopped it and checked to see if they had been observed doing it. They hadn't. All three of them were thinking the same thing. _I _know_ that name sounds familiar…_

When Clark released his hand, the first officer of the _Enterprise_ introduced himself as well.

"I'm Will Riker."

Clark smiled, nodded, and then pointed off behind the group. "My house is back that way," he said. "And my parents are home. The rest of you can introduce yourselves when we get there."

"Fair enough," Riker said, following the boy as he started in the direction he had indicated.

Wesley thought hard as he followed the group. He knew he had heard that name before and felt as if it should be easy to remember where. But so much had happened to him in his twenty-seven years that it was hard to remember the names of everyone he met or heard of. He tried to keep any expression off of his face that might reveal his train of thought, and didn't pay much attention to the rest of his friends until Kaitlyn dropped back and began to walk beside him. He was only vaguely aware that she was studying him until she finally spoke.

"Wes, is something wrong?" she asked with concern. "You're still breathing hard. You look exhausted."

Wesley knew she was right. Since attempting to get back to the _Enterprise_ he felt extremely tired, but he didn't want to admit it.

"Look, I'm just a little tired, okay?"

Kaitlyn lowered her voice. "But why? Using your powers isn't supposed to tire you out!"

"I don't know, Kaitlyn," Wesley said in annoyance. He sighed. "Sorry."

Kaitlyn smiled gently. "It's okay. And don't worry. We'll get out of here and find out what's wrong with you somehow."

"Hopefully," the young Traveler frowned.

"Oh cheer up, Wesley," Kaitlyn said, taking his hand and leading him forwards.

* * *

Meanwhile, Riker was noticing a puzzled expression on Morgan's face as she walked near him. He maneuvered his way closer to her and asked quietly what it was.

Morgan looked up at him, and was about to say something when there was a burst of noise just behind them. Kaitlyn, dragging Wesley along with her, had caught up to Faith and frightened her from behind on purpose, causing the girl to yelp in surprise. Now the two were giggling like schoolgirls as they swatted at each other, and Wesley pulled away from Kaitlyn and moved towards Riker.

Finally, as he reached them, Morgan got a chance to talk as the noise died down, and answered Will's question.

"It's just that this place looks familiar. I think this is the same town I was born in, in the twenty-first century. This is Smallville."

Wesley, now walking on the other side of her, nodded. "That's right, Smallville, Kansas. United States of America, and from the looks of it this is the late twentieth to early twenty-first century."

"Wesley, how did you know that? I don't think I ever mentioned it to anyone on the _Enterprise," _Morgan asked, her brow furrowed.

Wesley blinked. "Umm.."

* * *

The whole conversation had been spoken softly, so that they would not reveal to Clark where they were really from, as Riker had not decided what exactly to do when it came to that yet. Clark, however, had heard every word of it.

Clark didn't make it a habit of using his super hearing to eavesdrop on the discussions of people he barely knew, or anyone, but he'd heard the words "twenty-first century" and hadn't been able to resist, wondering why they would refer to the current century in such a way. Now, finding himself more and more intrigued by these strange visitors, he also found himself saving one of them from an uncomfortable situation, though Clark didn't quite know why it was uncomfortable.

"We're here," Clark said, unintentionally interrupting those who were talking and preventing Will and Morgan from pressing Wesley further about what he knew. He led the group up the sidewalk.

"What a cute little house," Lwaxana said to her daughter. Deanna only smiled, most of her attention occupied wit sorting out the confusing varied emotions emanating from those around her, though she did agree with her mother. The farmhouse was two-story, yellow, and inviting.

Clark hopped quickly up the steps to the porch and opened the door, ushering them all in. When they had all gone through he came in behind them.

"Wait here," he said as he walked into the kitchen. "I'll go find my parents." Riker nodded, and Clark walked off.

"Mom? Where are you?" he called, taking a quick look through the rest of the downstairs rooms. When he didn't see her he pounded up the stairs. "Mom?" When he reached the landing, he saw Martha coming from his parents' bedroom.

"What is it, Clark?" she asked.

"Well mom, I sort of…met a few people in the corn field. They needed help, so I brought them back to the house. They're downstairs."

Mrs. Kent frowned. "In the cornfield? What were they doing there?"

Clark shrugged. "I don't know. They didn't seem to, either. That's why they need help."

Still looking confused, Martha nodded. "All right," she said, and started down the stairs, her son right behind her.

"Where's dad?" Clark asked.

"He's in the barn, but it's almost time for lunch, so he should be in soon."

"Okay," Clark said as the two of them walked into the kitchen.

Martha froze as soon as she saw the group of people there. Her eyes went immediately to the young man in the strange, gray clothing. He looked back at her in surprise, recognition in both of their eyes.

"Wesley?" Martha said in shock.

The young Traveler, who had been struck by how familiar the interior of the house looked, suddenly realized why.

He stared in surprise. "Mrs. Kent?"

And suddenly, everything made sense to him, and the memories all came rushing back.


	6. Memories

Thanks so much for the reviews! I'm glad you're all enjoying it! Please keep reviewing! And _please_, I haven't been getting any new reviews on the other story I'm working on, _Till Death Do Us Part_. Please read and review it! I can't finsih it if I don't get any reviews! You can link to it from my bio. Anyway, thanks a lot!

Chapter 5

At that moment, Jonathan Kent stepped through the door into the house, and he, too, stopped short.

"Martha, Clark, what…?" he said, but stopped when he saw Wesley Crusher, just as his wife had.

The rest of those in the room looked back and forth between the Kents and Wesley, all confused, their curiosity mounting. And in his mind's eye, Wesley found himself swept back to an event that had taken place nearly twelve years earlier, an event that had started out as just another typical day aboard the _Enterprise-D…

* * *

_

_Fifteen-year-old Wesley Crusher walked into his and his mother's quarters after coming off duty on the bridge just in time to see the view of lazily passing starts in the large windows of the main room change. A large, green and red cloud came into view. He knew the _Enterprise _had not been scheduled to look at such a thing right now, so he assumed it was something the ship had simply come across. That seeming to be the case, he moved closer to the windows to get a better look, fascinated. _

_What Wes didn't know was that a tendril of the cloud was coming dangerously close to the ship's hull, and before he knew what was happening, the arm of the cloud brushed against the ship, right where he was standing. His eyes widened when something began to happen to the window that was being touched. A vortex of some kind formed, and through it he could see cornfields, and what must have been a road, though not of the current century. _

_He started to back away in fright, but suddenly a force he couldn't explain stopped him. The doors hissed open, and Beverly Crusher entered to see her son disappear into the vortex without a trace._

_"Wesley!" she cried, running to the window. But all evidence of what had been there was gone.

* * *

_

_Jonathan Kent slammed on the brakes to his truck when on the seemingly empty road just in front of him, some strange phenomena, some kind of vortex, opened and dumped a teenage boy into the middle of the road. The boy hit and rolled, and before the truck stopped completely it had hit him._

_"Oh my God," Jonathan said to himself as he jumped out of the truck, and didn't even bother to push the door closed as rushed in front of the vehicle. There, laying unconscious in front of his truck, was a bluish-gray clad, slight teenage boy. His clothes were strange, and so was how he had gotten here, but Jonathan Kent was used to strange, and pushed past that as he realized that the boy was obviously injured, though thankfully it didn't seem to be serious. Not knowing what else to do, Jonathan scooped the boy up into his arms, placed him into the passenger side of the truck, and raced back his farm.

* * *

_

_"Martha!" Jonathan called as he entered the house carrying the still unconscious boy. _

_"What is it?" his wife said, coming into the kitchen from the living room, five-year-old Clark right behind her. She gasped when she saw the teenager in her husband's arms. "Jonathan who is that? What happened?" she exclaimed, rushing to the two of them. "He's hurt!" she cried when she saw his dirtied clothing and the gash on his forehead._

_"I don't know who he is. I found him," Jonathan said. _

_"What happened to him?" _

_Jonathan sighed. "I…hit him with the truck."_

_"Jonathan!"_

_"He dropped into the road from some anomaly, Martha. I had no warning." Jonathan said, in mild annoyance. He walked past his wife to the living room and gently put the boy down on the couch. His statement stopped Martha from chastising him any further, and she only nodded and headed to the sink. _

_"I'll get something to clean up that cut," she said quietly._

_"Thanks," Jonathan called after her._

_Clark came and sat on the floor next to the couch, near Jonathan. "Who is that, daddy?" the little boy asked. _

_"I don't know, Clark," Mr. Kent sighed. "I guess we'll find out when he wakes up."

* * *

_

_Wesley shifted and moaned as he regained consciousness. He didn't know where he was. There were soft, strange voices talking above him, and something cool was pressed against his forehead. Slowly, he opened his eyes. An unfamiliar man and woman were looking down at him. The woman didn't look completely unlike his mother, though. In surprise he sat up, and tried to back away but found that he couldn't because he had been lying on a couch. _

_"Where am I? Who are you?" he asked hesitantly. Then he winced, realizing that he had a whopping headache. _

_"Be careful," the woman said with concern. "That's a pretty nasty cut on your forehead. I was just about to bandage it, now lean back over here." _

_Wes put a hand to his forehead and came away with blood. Grimacing, he nodded and allowed her to bandage the small wound. His initial reaction was that she shouldn't have to, that she could simply seal it, but then he took in his surroundings and realized that he was not somewhere with the kind of medical technology he was used to. _I'm certainly not in Kansas anymore, _he thought ruefully. _

_When the woman was done, she pulled back and looked at him. "There, that should do for now."_

_"You're in Smallville," the man said in answer to Wesley's question._

_Wes just looked at him. "Smallville…?"_

_"Smallville, Kansas. United States, if you need to get any more specific," the man said, smiling._

_Wesley almost laughed out loud. "No, that's okay, I know where Kansas is, thanks," he said. _So much for not being in Kansas anymore. _The irony of what he'd thought a few seconds before and what he had just discovered was not lost on him, but after the realization of it he quickly forgot it, knowing he had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. _

_The man continued. "I'm Jonathan Kent, and this is my wife, Martha," he said, gesturing to the two of them respectively and then offering a hand to the boy._

_Wesley took it and shook it. "I'm Wesley, Wesley Crusher," he said. "Umm...nice to meet you and…thanks for helping me out."_

_Jonathan winced involuntarily. "Yes, well…actually I hit you with my truck first. Sorry about that."_

_"It's okay. I don't guess I can blame you. I must've surprised you when I dropped out of no-where."_

_"Yes, about that," Jonathan began. "What happened to you? Where are you from?"_

_Keeping the Prime Directive in mind, as all Starfleet officers should, Wes only shook his head. "I…can't tell you that," he said quietly. "Besides, it wouldn't help much. I don't know how I got here, why I'm here, anything. I can only hope that I can find a way back."_

_Despite the fact that the boy was trying his best to hide his fear, Martha saw right through the guise and gently put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll help you. I don't know what we can do, but we'll try. And you can stay with us for now. We don't have an extra bedroom, but you're welcome to sleep down here on the couch." She looked at her husband imploringly. "Right, Jonathan?"_

_Mr. Kent nodded. "Yes. We'll do all we can, son."_

_Wesley looked up at the couple standing in front of him, and smiled for the first time since he had woken up._

_"Thanks," he said. "Thanks a lot."

* * *

_

All of this had gone through his mind in seconds, and Wesley shook himself out of his memories as Jonathan stepped forward.

"Wesley…Is that you?" he asked curiously.

Slowly the young Traveler nodded. "Yes. It's good to see you again, Mr. Kent, Mrs. Kent."

"But what are you doing here?" Martha asked. "And who are these people? Did that whatever-it-was open again? Were you brought here by accident?"

Wesley nodded again as Riker held up his hands. "Wait a minute! Wes, you _know _these people?"

"Yes sir. Remember when I was pulled through that vortex a few years ago? This is where it dropped me."

"Mom, dad, what's going on?" Clark asked.

"You probably don't remember, son. You were five at the time," Jonathan said simply.

"So he's been here before?" Clark said, motioning towards Wesley.

"Yes, just for a few days," Martha said. "I wondered what happened. One day a vortex opened again and he disappeared."

"I still don't know what all that was about. And now it seems as if it has happened again," Wesley sighed.


	7. Introduction

Chapter 6

Martha looked at Wesley inquiringly.

"I don't suppose you could tell us where you're from this time, could you?" she asked.

"Umm…"

Suddenly, the Kents noticed Data.

Martha gasped. "Good lord, what happened to him?"

"It's complicated," Riker answered quickly. "Um, Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I don't mean to be rude, but do you mind if we step outside for a moment? I need to speak with the rest of my colleagues."

Jonathan, Martha, and Clark looked at each other for a moment, until Jonathan stepped closer to the visitors.

"No, we don't mind. You can talk out on the porch. We'll be waiting here in the kitchen when you're done."

Will nodded. "Thank you. We won't be long."

With that, Riker moved back out the door and onto the porch, motioning for the others to follow. As soon as they were all out the door and out of earshot, Jonathan frowned.

"There is definitely something strange about those people."

"Really," Clark said. "One of them has white skin!" Then the teenager looked at his parents. "Mom, dad, that guy you recognized…Is it really true that he's been here before?"

"Yes, it's true," Jonathan answered.

"It seemed strange enough then, but now that vortex seems to have brought even more people here from God-knows-where." Martha smiled. "It's a good thing we're used to strange."

"So what are we going to do?" Clark asked.  
"We're going to help them any way we can," Jonathan said. "And hope that they'll tell us more so we can."

Clark looked thoughtful for a minute or so, then took a deep breath.

"Do you think…?" he began slowly.

Immediately they knew where he was going.

"Clark, don't get your hopes up," Jonathan said gently. "You know Krypton was destroyed almost sixteen years ago."

Clark shrugged. "Yeah. But I can't help but hope."

* * *

As soon as the door closed behind the group Wesley spoke.

"Commander Riker, I think we should tell them the truth. They're good people; they won't tell anyone else. I know we can trust them, and if they know where we're from they might be able to help us find a way back."

Will sighed, "As much as I wish we could do that, Wesley, we can't. The Prime Directive…"

"Doesn't apply to me or Mrs. Troi," the young Traveler interrupted. "We're not in Starfleet. We can tell them. Right Mrs. Troi?"

"Of course," Lwaxana answered, but she was frowning.

"Is something wrong, mother?" Deanna asked.

"Well, the boy's parents I can read like an open book, but what's strange is that I can't get much of a feel for Clark."

"Mother! You know you're not supposed to do that without permission!" Deanna exclaimed.

"Yes, I know Little One, but I just wanted to be sure of who we were dealing with. Didn't you notice that the boy is hard to read?"

"Well, yes, but some humans are well guarded…"

Wesley, meanwhile, prodded Commander Riker. "Well?"

"Wes, I'm just not sure."

"I don't have to get permission from you, you know. I resigned from Starfleet. Besides, we wouldn't really be doing anything wrong. I could tell them, and the they would know, so it wouldn't hurt for the rest of you to talk about it."

"It would be like it wasn't exactly breaking the Prime Directive when Captain Picard beamed into our apartment in Metropolis and asked us to come to the 24th century," Kaitlyn said.

"We already knew about the 24th century from Star Trek," Morgan added. "He just confirmed it existed."

Riker stood in his place, thinking. Finally he shrugged.

"All right, When we go back in there, you can them, Wesley. Mrs. Troi, you can help him if you want."

"Oh, no thank you. Mr. Crusher can give them the big news. I'll just slip in the part about Deanna and myself."

"You are going to tell them that you are not human?" Data asked.

"Of course I am."

Data looked over at Wesley. "Will you tell the Kents of your powers?" he asked.

Wesley frowned. "Actually, I don't think that would be a good idea. Thanks for asking, Data. I hadn't thought about it."

Data nodded. "You are welcome." Then he turned to Riker. "Commander, do you believe it is a good idea to tell them that I am an android?"

"I think we'll 'have' to, Data. The fact that you're not human is easy to see."

The android nodded. "Agreed."

Riker looked at Wesley again. "Well? What are waiting for?"

Wesley smiled. "Sorry. Let's go.

With that, the group filed back into the kitchen, and Jonathan looked up as they entered, and stood from the dining room table, where he, Martha, and Clark now sat.

"We never introduced ourselves properly," Will began.

"Neither did we," Jonathan said. " I'm Jonathan, and this is my wife, Martha. I assume you know my son Clark, since he's the one that found you. And we know Wesley here."

Riker nodded, and Wesley stepped forward. "I guess I'll introduce the rest of us to you then," he said. He started by motioning to Riker, and then did the same to each member of their party in turn.

"This is Will Riker, Deanna Troi and her mother, Lwaxana Troi…"

Finally he came to Data. "And this…is Data."

"Why does he look like that?" Clark asked.

Wesley took a deep breath.

"Well, this might be hard for you to believe, but…Data is an android. We're from the 24th century."


End file.
